Dark Nights
by Pickledpumpkinpoppers
Summary: "Is there anyone here who will speak to save Knight Eliz Firestone's life?" Eliz didn't look up to plead with the people watching her 'trial'. No one was going to speak. As far as they were concerned, she was already as good as dead. "I will speak for her." Eliz felt her heart jump to her throat. What could he possibly want with her alive?
1. Chapter 1

Eliz let out a small sob as she lay on her bed, mourning her most recent loss in the dark. She knew she was late for the briefing on her next mission, but she suddenly didn't care about that anymore.

All she cared about, was that the life that had been growing inside her, for the last four months, was suddenly gone. Her son was dead and she was the only one who seemed to care at all.

She should have expected this, though. Sith only cared about furthering their own cause, and all the miscarriage meant, to them, was that the asset they had been waiting for, for quite some time, would not be coming for a little while more.

She could only imagine everyone's reactions when they found out she was actually mourning the loss of her baby. For that was simply not done when you were a Sith. If you had a child, you were thankful to the Force, but if a miscarriage happened, you were supposed to carry on as if nothing had happened.

_How could anyone do that?_ Eliz wondered to herself._ How could any mother just move on after losing their baby like that?_

Eliz heard the door to her apartments open and slam shut, and quickly destroyed any evidence that she'd been crying. Crying was a sign of weakness, and she would not show any of that!

"Eliz?" she wasn't surprised at how angry her husband, Raymond, sounded. "You were expected in the Assignment Hall over three hours ago. What are you still doing here?"

"Getting ready to go for a short flight," Eliz answered, standing up and reaching for her black cloak. "I'm not in the mood for anything Sith related at the moment."

"That's never stopped you before," Eliz realized Raymond's mood was really nasty, at the moment, so she was careful to stay out of his reach as she fiddled with the silver clasp on her shoulder. "What's different this time?"

"I'm not listening to your fork tongued lies." Eliz barely felt the Force warning her before Raymond's hand had her tightly by the throat, and her back was pressed against his chest.

"They may be lies," Eliz felt his breath tickle her ear as her eyes started watering. "But, you have to admit, you've always loved hearing and obeying them," he released Eliz and she dropped to his feet, coughing, clutching her throat, and sucking much needed air into her lungs. "I'll give you twenty minutes, then you had better be down in the Assignment Hall ready for your mission!"

Raymond walked out of the room, leaving Eliz on the floor fighting back tears. She had no choice, but to obey him now if she didn't want a severe beating from him later.

She stood up from the floor, and straightened her appearance with shaky hands. She glanced in the mirror and winced when she noticed the angry, red hand mark practically covering her neck.

Anger rushed through her veins and the Dark Side started to flow easily around her. Her chest started heaving and her nails started digging into her palms.

_Why should she take such abuse from him?_ her rebellious side asked._ He has absolutely no right to keep doing this to me! You know what, Raymond? I'm done!_

She pulled her silver wedding band off of her finger and tossed it carelessly behind her. She pulled on her gloves, to hide the absence of her ring, and then headed to the main hanger.

No one there would know about her not showing up for the briefing, and her ship would be ready and waiting, because she was due to leave at any moment. No one would even try to stop her until she was gone, so she had nothing to worry about for three hours, at least.

Raymond would wait twenty minutes for her, as he had said, but he wasn't going to go looking for her until tonight. When he did and found she wasn't in their apartment, then he would fly into a rage and start searching the temple for her. By then, she'd, hopefully, be long gone.

"Everything is ready, Milady." Eliz waved the technician off and boarded her ship. The engine was already running and she had the clear to leave. It was almost too easy.

She took off and waited for an hour before changing course, and landing on a very insignificant planet that was very out of the way. She wiped the ships memory bank, and then sold it for a very handsome sum.

She changed her look, boarded a transport to a very random place, and integrated herself into the galaxy as Elizabeth Bethan just in time to watch the Republic fall, and, in it's place, the Empire rise.


	2. Chapter 2

Eliza sighed as she pulled the trigger on her rifle and the deadly missile sped off and embedded itself in her targets head.

Chaos reigned on the street below. People screamed, dove to the ground, tried running, as if that would help, and, basically, did some of the most stupid things you could do is you were trying to avoid the gunfire.

As an assassin, Eliza favored the antique rifle that shot bullets instead of blaster bolts. The only bullet rifles known to the galaxy, were all in museums or owned my collectors. Eliza had seen one such rifle, and learned how they used to be made. So, she'd crafted one all on her own, and used it ever since as her trademark.

Eliza quickly put away her rifle, and headed to the speeder she had parked a few blocks away. The old bucket of bolts didn't seem like the kind of thing an assassin would use, but it was all she could afford with all the debts she still had to pay.

She drove through traffic to the lower levels of Couroscant and parked it a few levels after the drug lords started to run the streets.

She frowned at the strip club her employers were waiting at, and stepped out of the vehicle. There were three people just outside using drugs.

"I would go to rehab, if I were you," she said, right before she went through the door to the club. "Those drugs will kill you within the next three years if you keep using them. Take it from someone who knows."

The people didn't pay Eliza any mind, so she just continued on her way. The club stank, as any club would, and the noise was almost too much for her to handle.

It wasn't much of a relief to enter the private room in the back. The loud music was dulled, and the horrible smell wasn't as bad, but the sight of one of the prostitutes sitting on her employers lap in the act of removing his shirt ruined it all.

"Excuse me!" she made her voice a few octaves lower than it normally was, and resisted the urge to make sure her mask was properly in place. "I'm here for my pay."

The middle aged man growled and pushed the prostitute off of his lap and stood up. He reached into a drawer and pulled out a few bags of drugs, along with a few piles of valid credits.

"I saw the report on the holonews," he said. "Very clean. Very precise. There was no sign of the assassin or the weapon that was used on the Senator."

"It's how I work."

"How do you want your pay? In credits, or drugs?"

"Credits. I don't do drugs," Eliza stepped forward and took all the credits from the table. "I'll leave you to get back to your...activities."

Eliza turned and left without another word. She was done her deal with him, and there was no need to draw things out longer than it needed to be. Especially, when she was being offered drugs instead of credits.

She'd been clean for the last two years, and had had no intention of relapsing now. Her life was starting to get on track, and she couldn't afford to let things slip again.

"I've got the next payment," Eliza took out her comlink and contacted another drug lord. "Send someone to collect it at my apartment."

"Giving demands now?" the sardonic voice on the other end mocked her. "No. I think you'll be the one to deliver the payment to me. Nice assassination this afternoon, by the way. Authorities are, yet again, clueless as to who could have possibly done this, since all antique guns are accounted for. You know what they are calling you now?"

"Don't care."

"The Gunman. Ironic, isn't it? Considering that you are a woman."

"Where are you?" Eliza started up her speeder.

"Don't bother coming in the scrap of metal you call a speeder," Eliza saw a very expensive speeder come up in front of her own. "You should come here in style."

"I'd rather you just gave me directions to your place," Eliza sighed, sitting back and crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm already in enough debt to you without adding the cost of how much the ride would be."

"It's on me, this time."

Eliza ended the transmission and stepped out of her speeder. She walked over to the very expensive one, and climbed in.

The ride was silent all the way to the top level of Couroscant and to the mansion in the most expensive part of the entire city to live.

"He's turned up his living another notch, I see," Eliza commented at the sight of the mansion. "He'll be living in a palace next, won't he?"

Eliza was led through the gates, up the stair, and through the many corridors into a large office. She went over to the desk, where a man, in his early to mid twenties, was sitting with a smug look on his handsome face.

"Well, Miss. Bethan," he ran a hand through his brown hair. "You have the next payment for me? That is very good. Only another thousand and you'll be free to rake up some more debts to me."

"Debts on what, exactly?" Eliza tossed her bag of credits onto the desk. "I'm clean, and I'm going to stay that way for the rest of my life."

"Such conviction that will fail you after three months tops."

"We'll see."

Eliza turned to leave, and froze when her eyes fell on a pile of her old addiction sitting on a table by the door.

"See something you like, Miss. Bethan?"

"Next payment I make, I will not be meeting you personally," Eliza said after a few minutes of inner turmoil. "I find that these meetings do me more harm than good."

Eliza rushed out of the room and out of the mansion as fast as she could. She'd worked so hard to get out of the hellhole she had dug herself into, and she wasn't going back. Even if it killed her, she wasn't going to give into the temptation.

She stepped out of the place and went to her apartment as fast as she could. Her speeder was long gone by now, so there was really no point in going such long way there for nothing.

She slammed the door to the dingy room shut behind her and head into the bedroom. She looked over to the bed and jumped at seeing a bag of her former addiction laying on her pillow.

"NO!" Eliza ran out of the room and slammed the door behind herself. "No. I can't do this!"

She went out into the hall and knocked on the door of one of her neighbors. The elderly lady was always willing to help.

"Yes, Miss. Bethan?" The lady asked.

"Someone left drugs in my apartment, Mrs. J," Eliza wrapped her arms around herself. "I was wondering if you could take it out and dispose of it for me?"

"Of course," the lady smiled. "We wouldn't want you relapse, would we?"

"Thank-you."

* * *

Three years ago...

"Eliza Bethan?" Eliza looked up dully from her drink at the middle-aged woman in front of her and then looked down at her drink again. "I need to speak to you."

"Speak away." Eliza took a long drink from her glass.

"You don't want to know who I am?" The blond seemed slightly surprised.

"You are a person who's been able to keep their life on track and not take drugs," Eliza put the glass down on the table. "That's enough for me."

"How long have you been taking drugs?"

"Don't know," Eliza was slightly shocked to find herself saying this. She hadn't realized that she'd lost track of time or where she was until now. "Year. Maybe."

"Where's your family?"

"Don't know. Why do you even care?"

"Eliza, I have been watching you for the past week," the woman gave a pause to see if Eliza was going to respond in a negative way, then continued when nothing happened. "You don't want to be here."

"Sure I do," Eliza gave a bitter smile. "It's one of the places where drugs are most readily available. What's not to like about the place?"

"That fact that you have been here for five years and only think it is one, is a very good reason to hate it."

"Five years? You're pulling my leg. I came here...only..." Eliza slumped down, shocked and hating herself for slipping so far. "How do you know it's been five years? Have you been watching me this whole time?"

"No. I had a friend who was watching you before I came here," the woman gave a small smile. "From the way he described you, I was expecting a completely different person. You've become nothing more than a shadow of what you were."

"A shadow?" Eliza laughed maniacally. "Don't you think I know that? I thought I could easily control it when I started, but it just got out of hand."

"Eliza, have you ever thought of going to rehab?"

"Plenty. But every time I do, he always set me up with something new."

"Clinton?" the woman let out a low curse at Eliza's nod. "Eliza, come with me now, and you can go through rehab, get clean, and he won't bother you ever again after that."

"I don't have the money."

"I'll be glad to pay for it."

"All- All right."


	3. Chapter 3

Eliza silently perused the list of people who wanted to hire her to kill someone. She had plenty of offers, but very few caught her eye, and stayed in it.

They were either ruses by authorities trying to catch her, people not willing to pay enough, and others who were willing to pay too much. Nobody who could possibly be a potential employer.

"Of course there is no one who wants anyone dead!" she grumbled to herself. "My last piece of work still has them reeling! Hate it when that happens! Assassination directly right after another is the easiest you can do!"

Eliza resisted the urge to punch the screen in front of her, as it was one of her neighbors, and glared at it threateningly, as if that would help.

She sat there a few minutes, doing nothing but glare at the screen in front of her, and then decided to go back to her apartment to get something to eat. If she had anything at all to eat in her tiny apartment.

With all the debts she still had, she sometimes forgot to take a small amount out of her rewards to get the necessities she needed to live. Necessities like food.

She hated her job. Absolutely hated it! She'd never been completely adverse to killing people, but she'd only ever done it when it was absolutely necessary. Killing for money had always disgusted her, but it was one of the fastest ways she could make money.

Every time she looked through the scope of her rifle, she had to remind herself that it was only until her debts were paid off and then she could go do whatever she wanted. When she could leave the farce of the life she'd created for herself, and the horrors that went with it.

She sighed, turning off the computer and leaving the apartment she had broken into earlier. She was slightly annoyed by the fact that she didn't have another job yet.

She had no idea what she was going to do after she was debt free, but she was doing her best to just take one day at a time.

"Oh, my word!" Eliza shrieked after she had stepped into her apartment, flicked the lights on, and saw her sponsor sitting in a chair by her table. "Can't you ever call, Seth?"

"Surprise visits tend to do more to keep you in line than the ones you have time to prepare for," Seth gave a small smile. "How are you doing?"

"I'm sure I'll be fine as soon as my heart stops racing," Eliza closed her door behind her and started looking through her cupboards. "We weren't supposed to meet up with each other until next week. What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to make sure that you were doing all right," Seth gripped the arm rests of her chair, and let out a long breath. "And to bring you a few groceries. Your next door neighbor said that you were faced with temptation the other day."

"Temptation?" Eliza took a piece of bread out of the bag, Seth had brought with him, and smeared some jam onto it. "Oh, yeah. The bag of drugs I found on my pillow the other day. It wasn't really big enough to be called a temptation."

"Then what would you have called it?"

"I don't know," Eliza bit into the bread. "Seeing the drugs won't ever make me go back. However, touching the bag and disposing of them, well, that might do it."

"You should have called me."

"What did I say when I chose you as a sponsor?" Eliza asked, slightly annoyed the Seth was showing so much concern. "Something along the lines of, "don't bother worrying about me, I always do what I set my mind to", and yet, you completely ignore that. I only ever agreed to have a sponsor because Lindsay was so worried that I wouldn't be able to cope after she left."

"If it wasn't for me, you would have starved a long time ago," Seth turned a little more stern. "Your neighbors also said that you were fired from your job almost a month ago. I thought we had agreed that you were going to do your best to keep it."

"Keep a job when all my coworkers are male, and constantly making lewd comments about me?" Eliza sat down in one of her chairs and curled up. "I'm sorry. I can stand the occasional pass at me, but it being a constant thing was just too much for me."

"What did you do?"

"I got so fed up with them, I punched one in the gut and knocked the breath out of him," Eliza gave a slight grimace at the memory of the chaos that had ensued right afterwards. "I was new, the boss hadn't seen his employees act out of line before, so he was more inclined to believe them than me."

"You can't keep doing this, Eliza," Seth scolded wearily. "You lost the job at the diner because you smart mouthed the manager. You lost the job as a janitor because you started a fight with one of your coworkers, because you thought that they were being lazy. And you lost the job at the Senate because you dumped wine onto a lady's, very expensive, dress on purpose, just because she made a snide remark about one of the children there. You either need to learn to control your temper, or hold it in until you can go to the gym and punch a bag!"

"I don't have a temper!" Eliza always hated it when people said she did. "I'm just a little hot-headed sometimes. On the rare occasions where I am pushed beyond my limits of patience!"

"What patience?" Seth asked, trying to remember a time when Eliza had ever been patient about anything. "As I remember it, you were the girl who went stir crazy after only three days in rehab and wanted to leave because you thought you were all better. It was a good thing that you had signed a form saying they could physically restrain you if you tried to leave before your addiction was broken."

"I wasn't in my right mind at that time," Eliza excused the incident. "And I don't like being cooped up. It makes me feel like I'm stuck in a prison."

"Do you feel that way now?"

"No. It was only in rehab, where I had about twenty people hovering over me at all times," Eliza stood up after she finished the piece of bread, she'd been eating, and went to get another one. "How's the wife doing? She still talking about leaving you to go back to her old ways?"

"I would thank you considerably if you wouldn't pry into our private affairs," Seth gritted his teeth at Eliza's mention of his once-prostitute wife. "Jennet's moved on with her life, and, in fact, we are expecting our first."

"Really?" Eliza was slightly shocked, but happy for her sponsor. "How far along are you?"

"Almost four months."

"Four months? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I know your opinions on my "unscrupulous" wife," Seth said, standing up and buttoning up his coat. "I thought you might immediately accuse the child of not being mine."

"I'm trying to change."

"Yeah, well, trying and doing are very different things," Seth put on a hat and opened the door. "I'll see you next week. I'll see what I can do about another job for you, but I wouldn't be too hopeful."

"My reputation is starting to precede me?"

"Something like that."

The door closed behind Seth and Eliza was left alone again. She looked around the apartment, for the millionth time, and scrunched her nose at the dinginess of the place.

She really needed to get some colour into the place. Maybe some blue in the kitchen, purple in the bedroom, and who knows what she could do with the bathroom? Anything to get rid of of bleak whites and greys that her apartment was currently decorated with.

She was sure that the landlord had some white paint he was wanting to get rid of, she could colour it whatever she wanted and use it like that.

"That could work quite well for me," she said placing her hands on her hips and looking around, trying to imagine how good it was going to look by the time she finished with it. "And maybe I could get a few landscapes to put on the wall too. Yes. This place does have a lot of potential."

Eliza spent the remainder of her day making plans on how she was going to renovate her apartment, and soon had decided on exactly how everything was going to be done.

* * *

Two years ago...

Eliza looked around the busy streets of Couroscant and took a deep breath. One year sober, and she was feeling better than she could ever remember feeling.

Her sober companion had just left her a few days ago, so she was getting her first chance to breathe without anyone looking over her shoulder in just over a year. It felt absolutely wonderful, she almost felt like dancing and shouting for joy, but she was careful to restrain herself.

_Don't draw attention to yourself._ she thought to herself continually. _It will only make trouble._

"Eliza Bethan?" She turned and saw a man with light, blond hair walking quickly towards her.

"Yes. Seth Termil?" Eliza had seen a holo of him a couple of weeks ago when she'd been made to pick a sponsor. And his voice was very familiar from when they'd had to speak over their coms.

"Nice to finally meet you face to face," Seth warmly shook her hand. "I got the apartment and job interviews all set. You can be moved into your own place by tomorrow, if you would really like."

"That would be wonderful," Eliza gave a grateful smile. "I can't remember the last time I actually had a place of my own."

"I wouldn't expect too much from the apartment," Seth admitted. "It's only three rooms, and very small ones at that. Not really much to look at, at all."

"As long as it doesn't stink like a strip club, or look like a prostitute's home, then I will be just fine with it," Eliza said, hardly being able to wait to get out completely on her own. "I can't stand either of those things. They're just a sore determent to society."

Seth said nothing and led Eliza out of the spaceport and to his speeder. They were both silent on the way to Seth's house, And Eliza was fine with that. She hated it when people expected her to make conversation with them. She rarely had anything to say that was truly worth saying in the first place.

When they pulled up in front of a good sized house, with a nicely manicured garden, and well kept garden, Eliza couldn't help but be impressed. Seth was a former addict, so she hadn't expected him to be doing so well.

"What is your job, again?" She asked, stepping out of the speeder. "You look to be quite well paid."

"I'm an executive at one of the companies on Couroscant," Seth responded, chuckling slightly. "I'm not the most well paid man in the galaxy, but I get enough to get by."

"I'd say you got a little more than to just "get by"," Eliza nearly sighed out loud, knowing she would probably never get a place like this in her life. "It's good to see another former addict doing well. Now, I can only hope I do half as well."

"If you work hard enough, you'll make it."

Eliza clenched her teeth slightly at Seth's optimistic statement, but bit back the bitter remark that sprang to her mind. She'd had a lot of practice when it came to holding her tongue in the past few months. Her sober companion had nearly sent her back to rehab, a couple of times, because of a few, careless remarks.

Rehab had saved her life, yes, but she never wanted to go back. It was not a nice place to be, at all. All those sympathetic buffoons telling you that everything was going to be all right in the end. The endless time of just sitting around, listening to sob stories of other people that weren't anyone else's problems.

She still had a hard time with the meetings she frequently attended, but they were only until she could cut ties with Seth, and vanish into the galaxy as an oppressed citizen.

"This is my wife, Cassie," Eliza looked up and did her best to give a polite smile. "Cassie, this is Eliza."

"Nice to meet you." Cassie held out her hand.

"Likewise." Eliza shook the woman's hand warmly.

Cassie looked to be in her mid, to late twenties. Her wispy brown hair was curly, and but at her shoulders. Her movements and mannerism seemed to scream prostitute. It was obvious she was really trying to tone it all down, but it is impossible to just shrug off who you are, or were, in a day.

Eliza knew. She should. It had been eight years since she had been among the Sith, yet she still often felt the impulses that had been drilled into her from birth.

"I'm just in the middle of fixing supper, so Seth will show you to your room," Cassie gave a brilliant smile and motioned towards the stairs. "Take all the time you need to settle in."

Eliza gave a tight smile and silently followed Seth to the second floor of the house. That had not been the kind of welcome she'd been expecting. Not from a prostitute, former or otherwise.

"She seems nice," Eliza finally commented. "Not exactly the kind of person I was expecting, but nice."

"Thank-you."

* * *

Hi! So, um, I hoped you liked it. I wasn't actually planning to make this a long story. I just wrote up the first chapter and posted it on an impulse, so, I could really use some ideas.

If you have any, please PM me or review, I'm always open for suggestions.


	4. Chapter 4

Eliza felt her jaw nearly drop to the floor when she read her newest job offer. She'd assassinated multiple people at once before, but never an entire family, along with six other senators! And with such a small window of opportunity.

She bit her lip as she thought about it. She would be paid more than enough to finish off her debts and get passage off Couroscant. And she wouldn't be breaking any of her self-established rules. Her chances of getting caught were high, definitely, but the pay would more than compensate for the risk.

She thought about her newly decorated apartment and the baby that was due any day now. She'd become rather accustomed to having an actual home, a good job, even if she really hated it, and she knew Seth wanted her to be there when his first baby was born.

But she also felt an old part of her scream for some adrenalin pumping and dangerous adventure. She hadn't been raised to be a normal, law abiding citizen. And she was finding herself quickly becoming bored, even with the assassinations on the side.

She shrugged her shoulders as she started replying to her potential employers. If she, for some reason, suddenly felt the urge to stay on Couroscant, she'd have a sizable living to keep her going for years to come, and, if not, a way to get off planet.

Soon, she had the time and place of the assassination set up, the targets, and the matter of her pay had been settled. She quickly erased any sign she'd been in her neighbors apartment, and went back to her own.

"Blast!" she exclaimed, seeing the time. "I'm late! Seth is going to kill me if I lose this job!"

She grabbed her uniform and dashed out the door. She'd have to change when she got to the hotel. Her boss had already given her two warnings, she couldn't afford a third.

Her cheeks were flushed by the time she got to the public transport, and she felt a strong sense of relief pass through her when she saw her ride was running late.

She managed to hop on at last second, and almost caught her heel in the doors as she jumped into the transport.

"Still gonna be late," she started mumbling profanities to herself as she glanced at the time again. If only she hadn't lost her speeder all those months ago. "Stupid nightclub!"

She sat down on one of the semi comfortable seats and stared out the window, to keep everyone from suspecting that she was doing anything out of the ordinary. Then, she started grazing other peoples minds, out of curiosity.

There was a man on his way home after cheating on his wife. A teenager wondering how she was going to tell her boyfriend and parents about her pregnancy. An alien trying to decide on what diner they were going to attend for their lunch. And many, many others.

The most curious out of everyone, was the brown-haired girl sitting a few rows ahead of Eliza with what seemed to be her nanny. Her head jerked up from the book she was reading at Eliza's touch on her mind, but she soon just shrugged her shoulders and went back to her book.

Eliza stroked her chin curiously. The child was obviously very strong in the Force, but had no idea about her potential. She looked to be from a very wealthy family, if the quality of her clothes and the elaborate hairstyle she was wearing.

Eliza decided to dig a little deeper into the girl's mind to find out who exactly she was. It wasn't that hard, at all. The girl had no semblance of shielding in her head.

_Wonder what Leia Organa would be doing on Couroscant at this time of year? Doesn't she have studies to attend to? Well, let's just hope she spends tomorrow with her mother or nanny._

Eliza shrugged her shoulders and continued to invade the minds of everyone around her. She had nothing better to do, and it gave her some semblance that she was keeping her skills, somewhat, honed.

_"Arriving at Memorial Plaza."_ The intercom warned Eliza about her stop.

She stood up from her seat and walked to the back door of the airbus. It opened and she started to step out, just as two other people were stepping on.

"Sorry." She mumbled ducking her head down.

She walked across the plaza faster than she had moved in years. Hoping upon hope that the two Sith Knights hadn't recognized her. That could turn disastrous for her in so many ways. Like the Sith actually being able to find, torture, and, eventually, murder her.

Or, they'd set up surveillance on her and watch, for who knows how long. Before they kidnapped her and took her back to the base for her 'trial'.

Yes. She was definitely leaving Couroscant as soon as Seth's baby was born and she'd been paid for the assassination she was going to attempt the next morning.

"I know I'm late!" Eliza waved a hand to acknowledge her boss and hurried towards the staff change rooms in the back. "And if I am late again I won't have a job here anymore! I'll do my best, but you might have to get the now hiring sign out of the storage closet again."

She heard her bosses laughter as she closed the door behind her and quickly changed into her maid uniform.

"So, how many rooms do I have to clean this morning?" Eliza asked, picking up her list and looking over it. "An extra floor because I'm late?"

"Only two floors today."

"That's a relief," Eliza grabbed her hover-cart and started towards the life. "At least, it would've been if it hadn't been the two floors that always seem the messiest."

"It's not that bad."

"It's where all the honeymoons and affairs go on," Eliza let out a little shudder. "You'd think that they owned the place by how much they ruin all the sheets and make a mess in the 'fresher. Maybe you should see on of those rooms after a night of somebody's 'activities'."

"I'll pass, thank-you."

Eliza rolled her eyes and went up to her least favorite floors to clean. She was quick with each room, but, even when she cheated by using the Force to lift the sheets and covers off the bed and into the laundry hamper, it took her half the day to finish the first floor on her list.

By the time she finished, Eliza's back, arms, and knees screamed with pain every time she moved. The rooms had been worse than they normally were, seeings how it was just after one of the biggest holidays on Couroscant, and she was still trying to get used to the hard labor.

As soon as her last room on the list was finished, she headed down to the staff rooms, and quickly got ready to leave.

"See you tomorrow?" The boss clarified.

"Actually, I had something come up. I swapped shifts with Classy."

"I thought you two hated each other?"

"Believe me, I had to do a lot of begging for her to listen to me," Eliza gritted her teeth. "And I'm never doing that again!"

Eliza opened the door and stepped out into the cool, Couroscant night. She rubbed her arms and wished she'd brought something to keep herself warm, the bite of the night air was always bad.

"Eliza," she said to herself. "you are one of the most idiotic idiots in the entire universe!"

She hurried across the plaza and stood on the platform, and stood there waiting for the airbus to show up. It would be about fifteen minutes until it was due to arrive, but she didn't sit down on one of the benches. She preferred to stand.

It seemed like ages before her ride arrived and she stepped on. She was a little startled to see the two Sith from earlier sitting down near the middle of the vehicle, and nearly turned and walked off so she wouldn't have to be anywhere near them.

However, coming on and then immediately leaving would draw attention to her. So, she went to the very back row, and sat down. Hoping no one would notice her at all.

She stared out the window and started thinking of her plans for the week, minus the assassination, just in case the two Sith did standard procedure and grazed everyone's minds.

It wasn't long before she felt one of the presences brush lightly against her mind and linger for a few moments, out of curiosity.

Eliza leaned her head against the seat and let her eyes close. She slowed down her breathing and almost completely stopped all her brain activity. The presence soon left after they had realized she was 'sleeping' and hadn't noticed them.

It was very hard to keep up the facade of sleeping all the way back to her stop, but, with great difficulty and perseverance, she, somehow, managed it.

It was all she could do to not to race off the airbus when it reached her stop, but she restrained herself from doing any such actions, and walked off how she normally did every other time.

She was thankful that the Sith stayed in their places when she got off, and started towards her apartment. She really didn't want to try and shake them off her tail if they decided to follow. She needed her energy for tomorrow.

"Eeeelllliiiizzzzaaaa!" she winced when her overbearing neighbor, Mrs. J, threw her door open. "Could you please do something for me?"

"Depends," Eliza ran a hand through her hair. "What do you want me to do?"

"I dropped my pills behind my couch again."

"How did you do it this time, Mrs. J?"

"I knocked it off the counter."

Eliza raised one of her eyebrows at the bubbly, old woman, but didn't say anything. There was no way that Mrs. J had just knocked the medication off the counter.

In order for that to happen, the bottle would've had to either fly across the room, or roll across the floor. Neither were very likely at all.

She walked over to the bright orange couch and started moving the heavy piece of furniture away from the wall. She let out a few loud grunts and groans as she did so, but she managed to get it out far enough so Mrs. J could reach behind it and pull out her bottle of pills.

"I would seriously advise getting a newer, light couch," Eliza said through her teeth, as she pushed the couch back in place. "I might not always be here to move it for you."

"I could never part with this old thing," Eliza resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the woman. "My husband bought it on our first anniversary."

"Goodnight, Mrs. J." Eliza walked out of the apartment and headed towards her own. She had a lot of work to do before she was ready for the next morning.

* * *

Eliza felt her neck start aching as she waited for the party of senators to be led out of the large mansion parlor, into the extensive gardens for tea.

She'd been worried, at first, about the children that the senators had brought with them. But she'd kept a very close eye on them through the windows, and noticed that they'd all been taken to another part of the enormous home to do their own little tea party.

Now, the unsuspecting adults were starting to file out into the grounds. Eliza relaxed, counting all the faces, until every last senator she was sent to kill were laughing and starting to sip on their tea.

"Force forgive me." Eliza looked up to the sky, and then looked back down to the merry party. Her finger curled around the trigger, and a rain of bullets was soon causing mass destruction in the garden below.

People were screaming as their companions died. The ground was stained with rivers of blood, bodies were strewn everywhere, and all the maids and servants were staring in shock at the carnage around them.

Eliza didn't stop to look at her handy-work as soon as the last senator fell to the ground and the life left their body. She could feel that only the staff were still alive down there, and she had no desire to look at the bodies. She'd lost her stomach for that a long time ago.

"Here," she tossed her empty gun to a random child playing in the street, after she had gotten down from the roof and walked a couple of blocks away from the assassination. Their ratty clothes and face indicated that they were a street urchin, and would just think the gun was a broken blaster. There wasn't really any danger to Eliza being traced by it, even if it was found. "Something to show your friends."

Eliza stopped then started down to the lower levels of the city. There, she could easily travel to the sight where her money was waiting for her, and then ditch her disguise.

It took her little over two hours to get to the drop off sight, and another to find where the money had been stashed.

"I've got the last of the money I owe!" she said harshly into her comlink when the drug lord on the other end answered. "I'm leaving it at your favorite bar, along with your comlink."

"Such an abrupt end to our friendship, isn't it?"

"Well, the 'friendship' has run it's course and I am no longer in need of your services. Goodbye." Eliza ended the transmission and started briskly walking towards the top levels.

A smile tugged the corners of her lips the rest of the day. She was finally and completely free. It didn't matter that her freedom had come at the cost of the lives of ten lives.

* * *

Thanks for reading.


	5. Chapter 5

Eliza was suddenly jerked from her sleep by the Force screaming a warning at her. She looked up just in time to see a dark figure finish filling up a siring, and start to bend over her. Her hand shot up and caught the silent intruder in the jaw with her fist, followed shortly by several punches to the person's abdomen.

When she was certain she wouldn't have a problem with them fighting, she tied them up and grabbed them roughly by the hair. She ignored their small cry of pain as she jerked their head up, and backhanded them across the face.

"Curse it!" Eliza exclaimed angrily, seeing the silver clasp on her prisoner's cloak. "How many more of you are there?"

"Like I'd ever tell you!" the female, Sith Knight spat. "I do that, and my life isn't worth a thing."

Eliza backhanded the woman across the face again, and felt sick satisfaction when blood started spurting from the Sith's nose. "Your life isn't worth anything, one way or the other. I'll ask you once more, how many more of you are there?"

Eliza was, again, met with silence. Knowing she didn't have time for this, she reached out to the Force and started looking for a crack in the girl's shields. There were almost too many to choose from. The girl's shields were mediocre at best. It took Eliza less than a minute to get inside the Sith's head and find out what she needed.

"I would highly suggest you concentrate on your shielding when you get back home," Eliza said, grabbing the credits she was going to need to get off planet. "I've met Jedi Padawans who could keep me out much better than you."

"You're going to leave me alive?" The girl seemed slightly surprised.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Your reputation is a legend among the Initiates, Knight Firestone," there was a smugness in the woman's voice Eliza didn't like. "You leave none alive in your wake. How disappointed everyone will be to hear that the stories are wrong."

"Good. People are less likely to go after a disappointment, than a great legend." Eliza closed the door behind herself and hightailed it out of the apartments as fast as she could. She could easily feel seven hostile presences closing in on her, and tried hard to sense the rest of the ones that were, undoubtedly, coming after her as well.

She made it halfway to where her ship was docked, and then she was able to see most of the Sith that were in pursuit of her. The others were trying to cut her off a little ways ahead, and would succeed if she didn't think of something to help her evade them.

_Lower levels give me a better chance,_ inner debate started going on as she plowed through the crowded street. _Most of these Knights are young. Older ones won't allow them anywhere near drugs or strip clubs for fear a new habit or two would form. And the kingpins frequent the bars at this time of day, which would mean..._

Eliza ran over to the edge of the sidewalk and let a fairly large man bump against her. She let out a small scream as she, supposedly, lost her footing and fell over the edge. She could see a large crowd standing where she had fallen and smiled. The Sith weren't going to be able to get through that crowd for a few minutes, and by that time she would be out of sight.

Now, she had the pressing problem of staying alive. It wouldn't take too long for some her pursuers to get down to the lower levels and start searching for her, so she had to find as quickly as she could. Which wouldn't be too hard, considering that Clinton only frequented one bar at this time of night.

She landed lightly on her feet, with the help pf the Force, and took off running as quickly as she could in the direction of the bar. If she could just make it there, she could, somehow, convince Clinton to let her use his private cruiser.

_Good luck with that one!_ she shook her head against the voice in her mind. _Clinton wouldn't let you borrow it if you bought him out of all the drugs in his possession. Go to Seth for help! Go to Seth!_

"Not going to happen," she said under her breath. "He's got a wife and daughter to take care of. Not going to take that away from him because my miserable existence is being threatened. I can take care of myself, just fine."

She turned around the last corner and skidded to a stop. She was just in time to see Clinton being led out of the bar, in cuffs, and put into the back of a police cruiser. And the rest of his henchmen being herded into a larger vehicle a few feet away.

"Fiddlesticks!" she cursed loudly, turning away and heading off into another, random, direction. "Where else am I supposed to go?"

Where indeed? She had no other friends who could help. In her time on Couroscant, she hadn't been very social. She'd never felt the urge to actually try to get to know anyone, just for the sake of getting to know them. Another downfall to being raised by the Sith.

Eliza spent the rest of the night trying to stay, at least, one step ahead of the Sith trying to kill her. She tried all the old tricks she had learned as a child, and it helped to buy a little time. But she could still feel the familiar presences closing in on her, little by little.

By morning, Eliza could again see the various Sith catching up to her, and gave up. It was no use trying to run from them anymore. It had been a good life while it lasted, but all good things must end sometime. And, it appeared, this good thing was ending sooner than she had thought it would. No big deal. She would've died eighty years later anyways. This way, at least, she wasn't living her last days as an old, frail woman confined to a bed.

She sighed, sat down on a nearby bench, and waited... and waited... and waited. No one made a move, even though her pursuers had completely surrounded her, and she was almost completely defenseless. They must've thought that she still had something up her sleeve.

"Are you going to capture me or not?" she said after she'd gone beyond impatient and annoyed. "Because, if you aren't, I've got better things to do than to just sit here waiting for you to pluck up the courage to come out and take me back to the Hellhole you call a planet!"

"You are surrendering yourself to us?" The voice asking sounded doubtful.

"I'm not just sitting here because I like catching cold!" Eliza snapped angrily. "I am completely unarmed! So you can take me as your prisoner however you choose. Just so long as there is no lasting damage because of it."

She crossed her legs and sat back. She felt a sharp prick in the side of her neck and hissed feeling a drug inject into her bloodstream. She yanked the dart out of her skin and dropped it to the ground as blackness closed in on her.

* * *

Eliza's eyes snapped open and she bolted up from the hard cot she'd been laid on. The room swam around her and she was barely able to make it to the toilet before she retched up all of the food that was in her stomach, and more. Then, she collapsed onto the floor weakly.

She let out a few shuddering breaths and just laid there, staring at the grey walls of her cell. Her stomach was twisting into knots, her vision was going blurry and her head started pounding. Whatever sedative they had used on her, they had used too much. She was very sensitive to drugs, so medics normally cut down her dosages to less than half of what they gave everyone else.

She vaguely heard the door to the cell slid open and light footfalls stop just beside her. Whoever it was gently lifted her up and put her back on the cot. She felt a cool hand rest on her forehead, and then slip behind her head and lift it up, while a glass of water was pressed to her lips.

"Not too much," the soft voice was a relief to Eliza's ears. "And not too fast either. We don't want you to retch it all up again."

"Where are we?" Eliza asked, weakly.

"The Academy," the answer sent a wave of disappointment through Eliza. "How are you feeling?"

"I can barely see, my head feels like it is splitting down the middle, and my stomach is barely able to hold down the water you just gave me," Eliza said without hesitation. "I'm completely fine otherwise. How long until my trial?"

"You have until tomorrow to recover."

The person stood up and left the room without another word. Eliza laid on the cot letting weariness and despair washed over her. One day left. That was all she had. One, miserable, measly twenty-four hours to live. Not even twenty-four hours.

* * *

Eliza was led out of her cell and through the familiar halls she had run away from all those years ago. Her hands were unbound, but the two large hands on her shoulders deterred her from making any move to even try to escape.

The main hall was packed with, Eliza was sure, absolutely everyone in the Academy. The entire room was silent as Eliza entered, and all eyes were fixed on the proud figure.

She'd cleaned up a little since the day before. She'd been given the proper attire for a Knight of her ranking, and had managed to get her hair done up in the same way she had used to do it. A little sloppy, since she was out of practice, but only to a perfectionist.

"Hello, Lord Leth," she said, a little cocky, as she knelt before her father, who was standing on a raised platform. "Miss me?"

"Knight Eliz Firestone. You have betrayed our order, and betrayed your legacy. What do you have to say for yourself?" Lord Leth asked sternly.

"I go by Eliza now, for starters," Eliza poured every ounce of contempt she could into her words. "And, as for the betrayal, I am guilty and not sorry for my actions. I'm surprised more Knights do not abandon the order for a real life. But, then again, being brainwashed from birth kind of detours it."

"Is that all you have to say for yourself?"

"Yeah."

"You do know what the sentence you are facing is?"

"Nothing I say will change it," Eliza's voice bordered on angry. "Your mind has been made up. Let's just get to the good part. Everyone's here to see the execution, not the trial."

"You truly want to go straight there?"

"If you wouldn't mind. I'm rather exhausted."

"Very well," Lord Leth turned his eyes to the large crowd watching the proceedings. "You have heard from her own lips that she is guilty. Her impending sentence is death. But, perhaps, she could be spared if someone spoke up for her. Is there anyone here who will speak to save Knight Firestone's life?"

Eliza glared down at the floor listening to the silence. She didn't look up to plead with the people watching her 'trial', she was already dead to them. There was not going to be any mercy shown to her.

"I will speak for her." Eliza felt her heart jump to her throat as Raymond's voice snapped through the room like a whip. What could he want with her alive? Other than to kill her in his own manner, which would be worse than Hell.

"Is there anyone else?"

"So will I." The soft voice from earlier sealed Eliza's fate.

"Master Raymond Firestone, you know the conditions on which Knight Firestone's life will be spared," Eliza felt her shoulders begin to shake with anger. "It is up to you to ensure that none of them are broken. If they are, the lives of Knight Firestone, your Apprentice, and you are all forfeit. Are you still willing to take on the responsibility?"

"I am willing."

"Than this has been a waste of my time. Get back to your duties everyone! Master Firestone, you will pick up your charge in the detention centre." Lord Leth stood up and strode out.

As Eliza was led back to her cell, she felt fear start squeezing her heart. Death would be a much better alternative than the fate she was going to be facing in the next few hours.

* * *

Sorry for taking so long to update. My internet isn't working, and was constantly kicking me off. It's getting better though, so I'll probably be able to update more now.


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